1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of producing the piezoelectric actuator for a liquid transporting apparatus, and a piezoelectric actuator.
2. Description of the Related Art
An ink-jet head including a piezoelectric actuator which applies a discharge pressure to ink by utilizing a deformation of a piezoelectric material when an electric field is acted on the piezoelectric material, is an example of an ink-jet head which discharges ink onto a recording paper. For example, an ink-jet head described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 8-142324 includes a liquid chamber unit having a plurality of pressure chambers (pressurized liquid chambers) communicating with a plurality of nozzles respectively, and a piezoelectric actuator (piezoelectric actuator unit) provided so as to face the plurality of pressurized liquid chambers. Here, the piezoelectric actuator has a plurality of piezoelectric elements each of which is arranged in an area of a vibration plate facing one of the pressure chambers. Each of the piezoelectric elements is constructed of a plurality of stacked piezoelectric layers made of lead zirconate titanate (PZT) or the like, and internal electrodes are interposed between these piezoelectric layers. When a drive voltage is applied to these internal electrodes, each of the piezoelectric layers sandwiched between the internal electrodes is deformed, and the vibration plate is deformed with the deformation of the piezoelectric layers, thereby changing a volume in the pressure chamber. Due to the change in the volume of the pressure chamber, pressure is applied to ink in the pressure chamber.
This piezoelectric actuator is produced by the following method. First of all, a piezoelectric element plate is formed by stacking alternately a plurality of piezoelectric layers and a plurality of internal electrodes. Afterward, this piezoelectric element plate is adhered to a substrate on which a wiring pattern is formed. The piezoelectric element plate is divided at a predetermined pitch by a dicer equipped with a diamond grinding wheel, and a plurality of piezoelectric elements corresponding to the plurality of pressure chambers respectively is formed.